The primary will, unfortunately, and probably illegally, determine all of the races for the 2026 season in Wyoming, with the off chance that the race for Superintendent of Public Instruction and Senate, if Hageman takes the race for Senate.
The stakes couldn't be higher. Two out of the three WFC/Republican Central Committee candidates are doubtful on public lands. The WFC/Central Committee candidate for Governor would decimate funding for local governments and schools. They're out of touch with their state, and the times in which they live, but many Republicans in the state have been sleepwalking through the 2020s, drunk on MAGA propaganda and oblivious to what is happening.Don't be one of those people.
July 21, 2026
Important dates:
Absentee Voting
- July 21, 2026 through August 17, 2026 for the Primary
- October 6, 2026 through November 2, 2026 for the General
Yesterday, in advance of the primary opening for early voting, the Republican Central Committee gave its endorsements, which is highly likely to be illegal.
It was carpetbagger central.
Brent Bien, who hasn't spent most of his adult life in Wyoming, but is a far right wing government dissing fanatic Marine Corps retiree sucking on the government tit (he doesn't hate the government enough not to take his retirement) was endorsed for Governor. California Chuck Gray, who also has never really had to work a real job, was endorsed for Congress, and Harriet Hageman for Senate.
The surprising thing here is that the Wyoming Freedom Caucus controlled Central Committee did not bow down to its king, Donald, and endorse Megan Degenfelder, who has Trump's endorsement. It's too far drunk in its own propaganda to do that. It'll be interesting to see if Trump endorses family friend Foster Friess for the Senate.
As another aside, it turns out that Gabe Saint, a law student who had to leave his internship with Hageman after he was found to have liked Francoist websites and other icky political stuff, is Chuck Gray's campaign manager.
Hmm. . . .
The Chuckles camp is also a bit of a Hageman family affair. Chuck's official lawyer (why the Secretary of State needs one who isn't just assigned from the AG's office is unclear) is Hageman's nephew. . and his wife is a primary figure in the WFC establishment.
Don't vote for any of these people. Bien would bankrupt the state through his anti tax (but not so anti tax that he's not okay with people like him living off of taxes) stance, Gray would be a worthless besotted MAGA, and Hageman has dissed her own constituents for opposing her position on public lands.
Before voting, review this:
Pollice Verso. The 2026 Political Negative Endorsement. The Don't Vote For List.
We recently commented on whom we'd recommend:
Some Freedom Caucusers are having some identity crisis issues:
Of particular note there:
What you’re about to hear is an interview I conducted with Wyoming House District 61 Representative Daniel Singh. This was actually supposed to be the first episode of (podcast) 'Nobody Talks Religion and Politics,' but Daniel asked me to shelve it at the time because he believed it would make it harder to manipulate Republican voters into electing him.
Indeed, it would have.
The article essentially points out that Singh just flat out assumed that Republicans were stupid enough to vote for him if he fed them political pablum. He proved them absolutely correct.
And then there's this:
Wyoming Rep. Gary Brown served Colorado prison time for felony intimidation, records show
His civil rights were restored, so apparently his running was legal. That's not really the point here, however. The GOP in the era of Trump is huge on moralizing, but it doesn't apply those standards to themselves quite frequently.
So who is running in Natrona County?
Anybody to outright avoid?
Well, yes.
Candace Machado is a nice, but flighty, former mayor of Evansville. I wouldn't want her as a commissioner, I think.
Rosemarig Czaban just follows the political far right like a stray dog, which frankly she kind of is. She sort of epitomizes the sort of MAGA lumpenproletariat that follows along as she doesn't grasp they're screwing her politically. She's a Bill Allemand acolyte.
Dallas Laird is too old and needs to retire. Terry Wingerter is as well.
More to follow.
July 22, 2026
My wife counseled me against voting too early before the primaries, and now I'm finding that her advice is well put.
I'm really reconsidering my vote for Congress.
I've been rooting for Balow since the beginning, but in looking at his positions, Richard Dodson is who I like best. Now I'm torn between voting for Balow, as she seems to have the best chance of defeating Gray and Friess in the primary, or Dodson, whose positions are closest to mine.
It's the pits to be in the "voting against" situation, but Gray needs to be sent packing all the way back to California where he has to go out and get a real job. Friess needs to be sent back to the Rich People Reservation that he came from. Friess, Gray and Rasner (whose nearly disappeared from my mailers) have all the money in the world so that, in and of itself, has boosted them to top contenders even though all three of them shouldn't be voted for, for this, or anything else.
I would like to know more about Dodson. Indeed, I'm sick of the situation we currently have in which we live in a small state, but we know very little about most of the candidates personally. Dodson is from South Dakota and lives in Sundance, which is close to South Dakota. He's some sort of IT guy.
Balow was an educator and was once the Wyoming Superintendent of Public Instruction. At least we know that much. I went pheasant hunting with her husband once, who was also an educator. He seemed like a nice guy. Balow went on have the same role in Virginia, which some people hold against her, even though they love California Chuck Gray whom we know very little about.
Indeed, Gray remains mysterious. We know more about Friess, Rasner and Balow, than Gray. Gray has a public nasty face and that's all we know about him. Who are his friends? Has he dated a woman at any time in his life? What are his interests?
Nobody knows.
July 23, 2026
July 24, 2026
Some interesting developments over the past day.
Probably the one that would lead most stories is that Carpetbagging Florida Lawyer Frank Chapman found his Rowdy Yates impression didn't lead to a political following, nor did hurling vast sums of cash at television and mailboxes. Chapman may have spent as much as $596,462.50, although that still places him behind Chucky Gray, Reid Rasner and Steve Friess. The expenditure didn't help, nor did wearing a cowboy hat of a type not native to the region. . . or to real cowboys in general, nor wearing cowboy boots that looked brand new and appeared to be hurting the Florida barrister's feet.
So he withdrew from the race.
In departing, he stated:
The truth is, I am not a politician. I am a father, a small-business owner, a rancher, and a guy who believes in hard work, common sense and doing what is right.
Frankly, wrangling horses is easier than wrangling politicians and special interests.
Yeah, whatever. He's a lawyer who became a dude rancher.
Now that he's been rejected, we hope that the rejection may send him back to Florida.
His presence in the race, while obviously unsuccessful, may have scrubbed off a few votes from California Chucky Gray, however, and to that extent it's a bit of a shame that Carpetbagging Frank didn't stay in to damage Carpetbagging Chuck.
It should be noted that Frank didn't withdraw from the race until after early voting had started, so his name will still appear on primary ballots. In the modern age in which people tend to get their news from the net, and tend only to consume news that supports their own views, the few people who might have supported Chapman may have already voted for him or might still, which would be a good thing, really. He's in the MAGA demographic.
In other interesting news we have this:
Hageman One Of 7 Republican No Votes For $1.15 Trillion Trump-Backed Defense Act
Hageman voting against something Trump wanted, and Mike Johnson had bootstrapped the SAVE Act onto this, is stunning. She stated that
The American people want to support our servicemembers, counter the Chinese Communist Party, and secure the southern border — objectives which this bill accomplishes.But the U.S. taxpayer also expects fiscal responsibility, and authorizing a $1.15 trillion budget for a single agency that has not made any meaningful progress to clean up its budget while we rapidly approach $40 trillion in national debt fails this expectation..
Woah.
Given as we're cynical here, Hageman not blowing kisses to Trump on this bill suggests something else may be afoot, and it is likely to be this race. Hageman faces a really serious contender in Sam Mead, the only other GOP candidate in the primary race who is a serious contender. Mead is drawing a lot of attention and my guess and is running from the center. My guess is that Hageman received some polling data that suggested she was in trouble with Mead and now has to find a way to try to move towards the center herself. Her statement used a common GOP theme, border security, and picked only on the Chinese, not the Iranians, so she seems to be trying to draw some distance from herself and Orange Mussolini.
The last Wyoming Congressman to do that was Liz Cheney, which cost her the Wyoming seat in Congress. Cheney really started to pull away from Trump over the war in Afghanistan at the time during which Trump was surrendering from the Taliban. Now Hageman is pulling away over the unpopular illegal war against Iran, which is far more unpopular than any American War since. . . well, maybe the Mexican War.
The seat she's seeking to take, of course, is presently occupied by Cynthia Lummis, who is all of a sudden acting weird. Lummis, as a retiring Senator, has leeway to either do nothing at all, or to actually vote her conscience. She's doing neither.
Lummis hasn't been particularly noticeable since entering the Senate in 2021. As she debated running for that seat there was some question of whether Cheney, before her backbone got her in trouble with the populists, was going to run for that position. She's not done much that's drawn the public eye, and has bizarrely focused on cyber currency, something that Wyomingites care utterly nothing about. She betrayed the state with Deseret Mike Lee took a run at disposing some public lands and was arrogant about it, but then returned to cyber currency.
All of a sudden she's getting a lot of interviews from the press in which she simply adores Trump and even Melania. This is a real change from a candidate who once claimed she was going to "hold her nose and vote for Trump". That view is probably her real view, so what on Earth is up?
My guess is that Lummis may be keen on retiring from elected politics, but is bucking for an appointment from Orange Mussolini to something. That would suggest that the inside scoop is that after the midterms we're going to see a lot of Trumpers abandon the ship of state.
That's a normal occurrence for most administrations, especially lame duck ones. Anyone who is savvy in the Trump administration, which unfortunately the real Trump Derangement Syndrome makes few, should be aware that if Trump's upcoming attempted coup fails, and its likely to, they'll be tainted by simply being there, so they're likely hedging their bets.
But that also opens up some opportunities for elderly politicians who have nowhere else to go, and that might include Lummis. It might particularly include Lummis as the bloom comes off the Trump rose, which it very wall might. The Michael Jackson Effect applies here as well as anywhere else, and the fawning "we love Trump" crowd could, if the war doesn't end, inflation gets worse, and we go through another winter with no winter, turn to "we hate Trump and everyone associated with him".
If you don't plan on returning home, however, a hitch in the administration might perry into a position with some NatCon think tank or some obscure university for a slow ride into retirement.
Off hand, my guess would be that Doug Burgum has had enough of looking like an idiot, and the position of Secretary of the Interior is opening up.
cont:
News broke this morning of some troubling domestic abuse legal proceedings in Kansas from when Bill Allemand lived there. It's really unclear, but there appeared to be a plead deal on a claim of domestic abuse and a claim that a protection order was violated.
Again, not very clear, but combined with his recent alcohol conviction there seems to be at least some questions about his character. He claimed that he was innocent of the abuse charge and that he didn't know about the other one in a statement to the press.
It'd be pretty difficult to judge these matters based on the report, which isn't clear at all. Maybe he's innocent of both accusations, and people do enter deals even when they're innocent, but once again its interesting how the GOP, which claims to be the party of morality, has these things come up. This is the second story in two weeks that's sort of vaguely in this ballpark on two separate legislators.
R. Czaban came right to Allemand's defense, which was predictable. She's running for County Commissioner but has defended Allemand on everything, including his drunk driving charge. As she's running for a different office, it's odd that this is the case.
Czaban's signs show up, I'd note, with Bien's and Allemands, as well as with Gray's. In terms of lawn signs conveying a message, they very much do, that being, far right wingnuts and shouldn't be elected.
At least with Bien's I'd also note they show up in a fair number of places on lots where you suspect the owner is poor, which is ironic. But it's a well know phenomenon. Southern voters after the Civil War very much preferred Democrats even as the Democrats worked to disenfranchise them, along with blacks. The Democrats really favored the wealthy, like the GOP does now, and the white poor just voted to screw themselves.
July 26, 2026
An interesting item from Wyo File:
Wyoming congressional candidates talk campaign finance, roadless rule, keeping Trump in check
Some highlights.
When asked about using family money to fund his campaign, Chuck Gray used the question to attack Reid Rasner and then said he wasn't spending as much family money as Steve Friess, at which point he was cut short for violating the rules of the debate.
He really is a rude punk.
Kevin Christensen, who seems to be up and coming, stated on the same:
We’re creating a situation where millionaires and billionaires can buy their way into office. That circumvents our democracy in Wyoming. We as voters need to be aware of where that money is coming from and why people are spending that kind of money for a $174K job in D.C.
Every candidate except for Christensen backed the administrations elimination of the Roadless Rule, although Balow took a nuanced position.
Friess claimed that the Trump administration had made many accomplishments. Dodson and Christensen criticized the administration with Dodson calling Congress spineless.
July 28, 2026
Neil Jeske, far right candidate for House District 59 who is running against incumbent J.R. Riggins turns out to have apparently claimed residence in both Wyoming and South Dakota over the past two years
All Four Candidates For Hot Springs House Seat Say They Won't Join Freedom Caucus
I've really been trying to decide whom I'm going to vote for, for Congress, with my decision so far split between Balow and Christensen. They're rating Balow a no/go.
July 30, 2026
July 31, 2026
Chuck got some bad news yesterday as a collection of Wyoming political figures endorsed Steve Freiss.
The Cowboy State Daily reports the endorsements came from Republican state Sens. Dan Dockstader, Jared Olsen and Brian Boner; former state Senate President and former state GOP chair Diemer True; former House Speaker and Senate President Eli Bebout; former House Speaker and former executive director of the Petroleum Association of Wyoming Bruce Hinchey;former Wyoming State Auditor Rita Meyer; former legislator Jamie Flitner; former legislator Don Burkhart; former House Majority Floor Leaders Ron Micheli and Rosie Berger; former legislator Dave Kinskey; Peter Wold, officer for the Petroleum Association of Wyoming; former legislator Harlan Edmonds, former state GOP Chair Matt Micheli and former Governor Jim Geringer.
In interviews with the journal, Geringer, Ross, Harvey and Ron Micheli expressly indicated that part of their motivation was that somebody beat Chuck.
Chuck predictably spouted bs, about the only thing he knows how to do saying:
Jackson socialite Steve Friess has rounded up the same tired class of political 1% insiders who have spent years trying to stop the silent majority and who are upset that I’ve been so successful in advancing common sense election integrity measures.
The poor little dear also stated.
It’s not a surprise that Jackson Hole socialite Steve Friess is receiving the support of the same 1% insiders who want woke data centers and woke wind projects
The irony of it is really palatable. Both Friess and Chuck were born with silver spoons in their mouths and have never had to scramble for a living. Both of their fathers had connections with Ronald Reagan, practically regarded as a saint by Republicans but the man who set the course that has lead the GOP into becoming the fascist party. Both are carpetbaggers, although Friess actually seems to have slipped into the local culture slightly through habitation and marriage, whereas nobody knows anything about Chuck on a personal level at all and no other person is known to know him on a personal level.
One politico who didn't endorse Friess was Tom Lubnau, former speak of the Wyoming house, who isn't a Chuck fan. He speculated that the endorsements are coordinated and reflect an "anyone but Chuck" viewpoint. Frankly, nearly any scientent being would be better than Chuck, but he has a point. I don't think recoiling from moneybags Church for money bags Friess makes sense at all.
I've pretty much decided to go with Christensen. I note that another former prominent legislature has endorsed him.
Footnotes:
This installment will run through Primary election day. That means it's likely to get really long, but even updating to new installments is making for some very long posts.
Related threads:
Pollice Verso. The 2026 Political Negative Endorsement. The Don't Vote For List.
Claiming the mantle of Christ in politics. Addressing politicians in desperate times, part 3.
Claiming the mantle of Christ in politics. Don't support liars and don't lie. Addressing politicians in desperate times, part 4.
What have you done for me lately? Addressing politicians in desperate times, part 5.
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